


Weather Permitting

by cutiifly



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Genre: F/F, in which m!cross and f!cross are siblings ahyup, self indulgent fluff, ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 20:25:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11631240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutiifly/pseuds/cutiifly
Summary: Irina buys the ring on a rainy day, and proposes on a blistering hot one.Weather regardless, they're happy. (F!Cross/Irina, self indulgent fluff fic. Have fun.)





	Weather Permitting

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm Kon! Only note to make is that my xcx fics operate in a canon where f!Cross(Pip) and M!Cross(Thorne) are siblings and both exist in the timeline with slightly differing presences and roles. That's about all you need to know though. This is just some fluff to help distract from how sick and depressed I've been recently. I sure do love Irina! I hope you enjoy.

It's a rainy day in NLA when Irina buys a ring.

She's been thinking about it for almost a month when she finally caves and goes shopping with Elma as an assistant. They spend almost an hour and a half in the store, surprised by the good selection(if very different from what they would have found on earth.) and asking question after question.

Irina already has Pip's ring size, stealthily gotten from her brother Thorne while they were all out for dinner together one night. He's in on this too, but trusted his own fiance to help Irina pick something out. The less he knows about it the less likely he'll be to let something slip, he says, and wishes them luck.

Irina doesn't think about what's rare or popular- those aren't things that Pip thinks about much or would even appreciate. The tiny mechanic is more about sentiment than credit value. It's part of why Irina loves her.

They settle on something simple and colorful in the end, though it does cost a pretty penny for the parhelian platinum and the california sunset embedded in it. Irina doesn't care.

She spends another two weeks trying to figure out how to go about proposing. With the Lifehold recovered, and repaired as much as they were able to, passengers and crew are getting bodies back left and right and NLA is filling up and growing even busier than before. She doesn't have a lot of time to spare for a fancy date (though she'd like to, because Pip cleans up so beautifully) and neither does her little girlfriend, busy working on repairs to skells and weapons development almost every day while Irina helps shuttle people from the Lifehold to the city or trains new BLADES.

In fact, a lot of the only time they get to spend together lately is when one helps the other with work. Pip has acted as a helper shuttling passengers, has played sparring partner with a lot of new BLADES, and Irina has been a garage assistant many a time, fetching tools or lifting things. It's not exactly romantic, but what matters to the both of them is that they are able to see each other- even if it's only while drenched in sweat and gunk or while crowded by nervous or panicky civilians.

It's with this in mind that Irina finally comes up with an idea one day. It's simple, not overly public and it doesn't really require any planning, so she hops on it the moment Gwin makes the helpful suggestion that she wing it.

“Spontaneity is attractive or something, right?” He says through a mouthful of food while they eat on their way home from a mission(gross, Gwin) and then he adds, “You know Pip appreciates sincerity over ceremony anyway.”

And he's right. Pip and Gwin are best friends, so of course he would have good insight. Irina wonders why she didn't think of that herself before, and comes to the conclusion that it's simply because Pip always leaves her addled in the head. (In fact, the lieutenant is still getting used to the dizzy feeling she sometimes get when Pip kisses her.)

While it was rainy when Irina bought the ring, it's searing and humid the day she goes to help Pip at the hangar, out of the way in a corner- they're fixing some medical equipment. Now that there are real bodies to be taken care of, things like that are needing to be produced, but the manufacturers are still getting the hang of using Miran supplies to make this type of machine, so repairs are a frequent necessity.

Irina's not sure what the machine is for- it's big and bulky and it's leaking oil of some kind. She's gotten grease on her hands just from handing things to Pip and she's glad she wore a tank top and sweats for this. Pip, as always, is dressed in a tank top with her jumpsuit tied at her waist. Through the racer back Irina can see part of her full back tattoo, a pattern of a spinal column and ribs. A little bit macabre to some people, but somehow it suits the little firecracker swearing at the medical equipment right now. Irina's sure she's got a fond smile on her face already. Watching Pip work is fun. She grumbles, sings, dances, talks to her work. She's incredibly quirky and peppy and her energy is infectious.

In fact, Irina recalls now as she hands Pip a screwdriver that the moment she really first _noticed_ her was when she walked past her work station one day and found her air guitaring a mop while singing old pop songs at the top of her lungs. She has a beautiful voice, and the way she belted the music so excitedly made Irina pause to just watch. She had to hold back a laugh when Pip noticed she was being watched, too, because she turned _such_ a bright and lovely shade of red and shrank behind the leg of the nearest skell. Irina supposes that Pip already had a crush on her by that point (they were both oblivious to each other's feelings for a while, and the mechanic still won't divulge exactly how early on she had feelings for her).

“Irina. Irina?”

The small, feminine voice snaps her from her thoughts. Pip isn't turned toward her, but she's holding out her hand and gesturing towards her toolbox.

“Can you hand me a wrench, 'rina?” She asks absently. Irina's gaze is soft as she reaches for the toolbox, but then she remembers why she's here today and she thinks better of it. She digs in her pocket.

She pulls the little box out. It's velvety feeling in the way any other ringbox would be, the same dark color. It looks innocuous but it's very important. She puts it gently in Pip's waiting palm and holds her breath.

“I said a wrench,” The engineer chides as she turns, but then her hand closes over the box and she really _looks_ at it. Her eyes go wide. Irina doesn't hear it, but she _sees_ the soft little gasp and “oh.” slip from Pip's mouth.

“Oh.” She says a little louder. Her face is covered in oil and grease but Irina can still see it glowing pink. “Oh, my god. _Irina._ ”

Her mouth is trembling, and Irina has to hold back a smile. “Pip.” She says fondly.

“Irina, is this what I think it... _Irina, my god._ ” breathes the redhead.

Irina reaches out and opens the little box. The ring is glinting in there quietly. Pip reaches a trembling hand and covers her mouth. Before she can say anything, Irina kneels on the floor in front of her- may as well do this right.

“Pip, I have something I'd like to ask you.” She says it just loud enough for her girlfriend to hear. Pip takes a loud, shuddering breath.

“Go on.” She chokes. Irina laughs a little.

“Would you marry me?”

It feels cheesy to just outright say it like that, but Irina couldn't care less about cliché, or cheesy, or overdone right now. Pip is shaking, fingers tightened over her own face. Irina waits for her to gather herself, but it only takes a second even though it feels like an eternity.

“Irina, god, I-” She swallows, “ _Yes_ , Irina, of course I- yes.”

And that's where Pip loses control. Tears bubble up and out of her eyes as she lets out a laughing little sob. Irina has to catch the ring and box as they fall from her girlfriend's hand because she grabs her face and leans in to kiss her. Short and intense, she leaves oil spots on Irina's cheeks.

Irina reaches to the toolbox to pick up a washcloth then, because Pip is quickly becoming a babbling mess (Is she even saying anything coherent at this point?) and is smiling through her crying. Irina doesn't think she's ever seen the petite redhead so happy. It's deeply satisfying to know that it's because of her.

“Oh god,” Pip blurts as Irina starts wiping her tears away with the cloth, “Oh god, I'm a _mess._ I've got oil and grease everywhere and now snot, I just- oh, I must look like a wreck.”

“You're beautiful.” Irina corrects as she dabs some of the filth away. She uses her free hand to help slip the ring onto Pip's now waiting finger.

Pip's arms are around her neck now, her lips everywhere on her face. Irina hasn't gotten nearly all of the mess off of her, so it's transferring to her mouth and cheeks, but she kisses back earnestly, laughing all the while. I love you, Pip is declaring repeatedly, I love you.

“I love you too.” Irina butts in, “Think you can take the rest of the day off after this is done?”

“Of _course_ , oh my god, I couldn't focus now if I _wanted_ to.” Pip is still sniffling a little, but she pulls herself together and gets back to work- for a measly quarter of an hour. She finishes the repairs in record time, files the paperwork, and smiles like a small sun the entire time.

She leaps into Irina's arms and kisses her again, full force, as they leave. Irina knows they'll be up late tonight (either talking or doing _other things_ , it doesn't matter) and she has to work early tomorrow, but she couldn't be any more free of regrets right now. Rain or shine, Pip is hers to keep.

 


End file.
